


He Calls Me Bones

by speakingofalice



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Allergies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amnesia, Car Accidents, Coma, Hospitals, Leonard and Christine are deep bros, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-19 23:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4764734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speakingofalice/pseuds/speakingofalice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Are you going to leave me? Stick me with another sawbones and call it a day?” The uncertainty in Jim’s voice coupled with the line between his eyebrows made Leonard lean forward. He placed his hands on either side of Jim's torso just above his hips being mindful of his broken bones and still torn skin. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, darlin’.”</p><p>Based off the song "Raymond" by Brett Eldredge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Calls Me Bones

“He calls me  _Bones_ ,” Leonard says as he and Christine walk shoulder to shoulder down a long hospital hallway. Both have coffees clutched in hand with a manila folder held in the other. Christine’s long blonde hair was tired back in a simple yet professional bun. While Leonard’s scruff hadn’t been shaved in going on three days. They did not walk quickly as there was no emergency or call for assistance but they did set a faster than normal pace both eager to get to their lunch break. Turning the corner, Leonard held his hand out for Christine’s folder then handed them both off to the nurse on duty working at the desk.

“The patient in room five is having discomfort, tell Dr. M’Benga to look in on her. Also Mr. Hill in room nineteen thinks that his bandage is too tight around his chest.”

“I’ll check on him, doctor. Have a good lunch.”

“Thanks,” he nodded and he and Christine were off to the elevator and down the hall towards the hospital cafeteria.

“So who calls you Bones?” Christine asks when they sit down, matching salads on their trays. Leonard had another cup of coffee while Christine went for a Coke today.

“The man in room nine, James Kirk.”

“Oh…” Christine looks down at her fork playing with her salad. She knew the man who’d been sent up to their floor three weeks ago trapped inside a deep coma. He’d only woken yesterday but Christine hadn’t actually seen him awake just yet. “You spoke with him? I thought he wasn’t talking.”

“Oh he talks,” Leonard shakes his head rolling his eyes. “The kid can talk my damn ear off and he’s only been awake for two days. He doesn’t remember anything before the accident, but things are coming back. This morning he told me his birthday and his address so we’re getting somewhere.”

Taking a crunching bite from her salad, Christine asked, “Does he remember what the _T_ stands for?”

“He didn’t this morning but I’m sure it’ll come back.” With a shake of his head Leonard dug into his salad laughing. “ _Tiberius_. What sick mother would saddle her kid with that kinda name?”

Christine eyed him with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know  _Horatio_ , who would do that?”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“We shall never speak of this again.” Leonard demanded digging into his lunch. Christine just laughed.

* * *

“Do you ever wish you’d stayed a trauma surgeon, Len?” Christine questions as they leave James Kirk’s room. He was still in pain even though the car accident had been weeks ago.

“Not really,” Leonard shakes his head, his eyes looking like they were far away. “I like the long term patients more. They’re easier to deal with. Less drama. Hey,” he turns to the nurse when they’re further from Kirk’s room. “Did you hear him call me  _Bones_  when we left?”

Christine purses her lips in thought. “Yeah… Maybe. I’m not sure. Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

Leonard shook his head feeling confused again. James Kirk had been talkative this morning as he rambled on about his uncomfortable bed and the annoying medicine lines that poked his skin.

“Maybe you’re just hearing things, Len.”

“Yeah,” Leonard frowned. “Maybe.”

* * *

“I defiantly heard him call me Bones today,” Leonard announced as he stood behind the counter flipping through files on his patients ensuring all was in order before taking his last rounds for the night. As usual, Christine was on duty typing away on her computer. She rolled her eyes turning to look at the doctor. It had been a week since the man had woken up from his coma and Leonard had mentioned something almost every day.

“Len, come on. He’s hurt, he hasn’t had any family visit and he’s confused. If he wants to call you Bones then let him. It’s not like he named you jackass or dickhead or something.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Leonard admitted leaning against the counter with a medical chart in hand. He skimmed it thoroughly before folding it closed and handing it off to Christine to make a few notes inside.

“I’m always right.” The woman turned back to her work. “Besides, Bones isn’t the world’s worst nickname. You could be Grumpy Old Doctor With A Stick Up His Ass.”

“Very funny,” Leonard just about stuck his tongue out at the woman before remembering he was a professional in a professional environment. He settled for just giving her a face behind her back and turning away to finish his shift.

“I saw that.” She called still staring at the screen.

“Of course you did.”

* * *

Leonard felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped being pulled roughly from his thoughts.

“You did good today, Doctor.” Christine said sitting down beside him on the couch in their break room. A small coffee was placed into his hand which he accepted gratefully. “You saved him.”

“Shit, Chris,” Leonard took a long swig of his coffee like it was bourbon relishing in the burn of the too hot drink. “I studied his file and nowhere in it did it say he was violently allergic to  _sempadefern_. I didn’t even think it would do anything at all, just maybe help the pain a little bit. Shit.”

“But you saved him,” Christine pointed out. Leonard snorted.

“He flat lined. Almost sent him into another fucking coma.”

“But he’s fine now. He’s resting comfortably.” Christine’s eyebrows knit together as she stared at the withering man to her left. “What is it? What’s eating at you?”

“He called me Bones again. And he thanked me for saving him. Right before he fell asleep he called me Bones and smiled, fucking  _smiled_  before he passed out.” He laid his head back on the couch. “Jim’s gonna kill me someday, I swear.”

“Oh, so it’s Jim now?” Christine hid her smile behind her coffee. Leonard rolled his head to face her looking older than his mere thirty-two.

“He’s been here a month plus the week he was in critical care and no one’s come to see him. I’ve checked the records. No family, no friends. Nothing. Least I can do is call the kid by his name.”

“You’re a good man, Leonard McCoy.”

Leonard looked up at the ceiling. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

* * *

“Fuck.” Leonard walked briskly through the halls of the hospital feeling bile in the back of his throat, tears stung his eyes. He choked only once palming his face hard and advancing his walk until he reached the break room throwing the door open and falling into a chair. He buried his face into his hands feeling tears make tracks down his cheeks. “Fuck.”

The door was only closed a minute before it was opened once more and Christine walked in.

“What the hell was that?” She demanded hands on hips standing above him like some supreme being. Her eyes were angry while her lips creased at the sides with irritation. “Well?”

“He…” Leonard began shakily. He wanted to run far  _far_  away. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to hold that sick man in his arms forever. “He called me Bones. He… He thinks I’m his husband.”

“Len,” Christine was still angry, as she should be. Leonard knew doctors weren’t supposed to storm out of patients rooms. It was unprofessional and, more importantly, it had made Jim cry. “He’s confused. He has amnesia and his family isn’t here to help him. As fucked up as it is we’re the ones responsible for him right now and that includes not making him upset like this.”

Leonard shook his head keeping his hands over his eyes. “No,” he said. “You don’t understand.” His throat felt thick as something swelled making it hard to breathe. Christine took a step back reevaluating the situation for a moment before sitting down in the chair opposite Leonard. “What don’t I understand?”

With a harsh breath and a few fallen tears already wetting his face, Leonard looked up at her. “He calls me Bones. He thinks I’m his husband. The husband that died in the accident.”

She sucked in a breath, her eyes became moist. She put a hand to her mouth. She remembered the accident, the charging in of the doctors and EMT’s with two filled gurneys. Both patients were torn up, broken and bloody. Christine had been working down on the first floor in the emergency room that night. The doctor on duty had taken one look at the man in the other gurney and shook his head before pronouncing him DOA –  _dead on arrival_  – than had gotten to work on James Kirk. “You have to tell him, Len. It’s not fair to him.”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Leonard exploded angrily. “Who do you think this is fucking fair to, huh? It’s not fair to anyone!”

Christine grabbed for his hand collecting it into hers and holding tight so the older doctor couldn’t pull away. Leonard was breathing hard clearly torn on what to do. Tell this man that his husband died in the crash or let him continue to think he was him…

“Jim will be crushed…” Leonard let his mind wander thinking about the last few weeks. The way he would go in to check on the kid at the end of his shift and end up staying well past his time. They would talk, Leonard would listen while Jim recalled the stories that he could remember. Mostly they were from his childhood but some from his college days. He could remember bits and pieces and the rest he would make up with a laugh.

“Len,” Christine, always the good nurse leaned forward. “You have to tell him.”

Leonard felt a single tear well up in his eye and fall. He nodded putting his head on the table to cry.

* * *

“Look, Jim. There’s something I have to tell you.” Leonard began sitting down on the hospital bed. It gave way to his weight letting out air and trying to compensate for more than one person. Jim looked down at him worriedly from where he was propped up on the bed. His white pale skin was stretched over the bones of his face tightly. Healing cuts were slowly turning to scars that the younger man would have for the rest of his life. He was skinny and sickly as he lay in the bed.

“What is it?”

It took a few tries for Leonard to get his mouth to move, his voice to work. Jim’s shaved and bandaged head made him look so small. IV lines ran from both hands bunching up above his head where no less than four different bags of medicine on slow drip hung. His heart monitor sped up a few beeps to the left of his bed as he took deep breaths from the nasal cannula. Leonard looked at his clasped hands refusing to look up.

“I’m not… I’m not you’re husband, Mr. Kirk. I’m not your Bones. My name is Leonard McCoy and I’m just your doctor. I-I’m sorry.” He sniffed feeling snot start to drip from his nose. He didn’t look up finding his tanned calloused hands to be more interesting and less heartbreaking than the injured man in the bed.

“I know,” came the soft reply. Leonard snapped his head around.

“What?”

Jim blinked slowly before he looked away from Leonard and up at the television that wasn’t turned on. “I’ve known you weren’t him for a while now.”

Leonard was at a loss. Confused and slightly hurt even though he knew he didn’t have the right to feel hurt. “What..? Then why did you… You’ve been calling me Bones. You…”

With a slight turn of his head, the extent of what was probably comfortable without being painful, Jim looked at him staring Leonard in the eye. Blue to hazel. “A week ago someone, I think a nurse or a night shift doctor I’m not sure, told me they were sorry for my loss.”

"Jesus,” Leonard cursed. “Doesn’t anyone read the fucking patient reports?” It wasn’t really a question to Jim but all the same the man gave a small smile.

“I knew you weren’t him but you were so nice and so good to me. At first I wanted to hope it was all fake and that you really were him taking care of me in here but then you’d do things. Say things that he’d never say. I don’t remember all the much but some things I just know, like him never cursing. I remember that he never cursed no matter how angry he got. And you curse.” Leonard looked away feeling his face heat. “I remember he never used to call me those names you do either.”

“What names?”

“Kid,” Jim looked down letting a bigger smile grace his healing face. “Darling.”

“Jesus, kid,” Leonard shook his head staring up at the ceiling as if looking up would stop the tears that threatened his eyes.

“You’re the first person I saw when I woke up,” Jim’s voice grew faint. “You’re the person who made me feel safe. Please don’t be angry.”

“Angry?” Leonard turned to him feeling his heart thud in his chest. “I’m not angry with you Jim. Surprised a little but not angry.”

“Are you going to leave me? Stick me with another sawbones and call it a day?” The uncertainty in Jim’s voice coupled with the line between his eyebrows made Leonard lean forward. He placed his hands on either side of Jim just above his hips being mindful of his broken bones and still torn skin. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, darlin’.”

Jim grinned, eyes starting to flutter. His automatic pain medication must’ve started to kick in. He fought against the closing of his eyes, Leonard could see him fight to stay awake.

“Sleep, Jim,” he ordered resting a light hand on his cheek. Jim closed his eyes nuzzling into the warm hand.

“Will you be here when I wake up?” He whispered.

“Of course.”

Jim smiled and was quiet for a moment before he started to speak again, his voice slurred from the sedatives. “C'n you be my Bones?”

Leonard stared at the man before rolling his eyes and chuckling alleviating the knot that had twisted inside his stomach. “Sure Jim.” He started tenderly. “I can be your Bones.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't heard of the song Raymond I recommend checking it out, it is very good and I listen to it often. A quick YouTube search should find it pretty easily. Comments ridiculously appreciated!


End file.
